Nonprofit gets a boost from sister of billionaire investor

The sister of billionaire Warren Buffett donated $150,000 last month to a Silver Spring nonprofit that serves troubled youth, but only after the organization met the philanthropist's challenge of raising $150,000 to match the donation.

Doris Buffett presented a $150,000 check on March 27 to Hearts and Homes For Youth, based at 1320 Fenwick Lane in Silver Spring. The donation was part of a "challenge grant" where the donation is made under the condition that the organization will raise the same amount that is being donated.

"She's an unbelievable and delightful person," Helen Connelly, chairwoman of Hearts and Homes board of directors, said of Buffett. "Like her brother she's very generous but she also is a people person."

Through individual and corporate donations, Hearts and Homes worked since October to match the $150,000 before the end of March. The total donation of $300,000 will go toward its services and programs, which since 1964 has served more than 30,000 at-risk boys and girls throughout Maryland, and its Norbeck Road shelter is the only in Montgomery County specifically for youth.

Connelly said the money will help Hearts and Homes through the economic downturn that has hit nonprofits and will be a "catalyst to raise additional funds."

"People open their hearts and their wallets when they know there's a good return on their investments," Connelly said of Hearts and Homes' longstanding reputation for helping youth. Connelly herself was a counselor at one of Hearts and Homes shelters.

The organization will also use the money to hold a fundraising gala in November. Buffett was honored at last year's annual Hearts and Homes gala for her charity work and as founder of the Sunshine Lady Foundation, which aims to stop domestic violence and has awarded more than $50 million in grants, according to its Web site.

Hearts and Homes' services also include seven group homes, therapeutic foster care, independent living and a unique foster care program for pregnant and parenting teens based in Baltimore. For more information on the agency, visit www.HeartsandHomes.org.

Design meetings

to be held for new library

Four community meetings will be held in the next two months for architects and planners of the proposed new Silver Spring Library to gain feedback from residents for a more detailed exterior design for the building, which is planned for the corner of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street.

The first meeting will be held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 16 at the Gwendolyn E. Coffield Community Center at 2450 Lyttonsville Road, the location of all four meetings. Topics for the first meeting will be background on the project's building program and schedule, developing the library's organization plan and discussing the library's public space and proposed pedestrian bridge above Wayne Avenue.

The pedestrian bridge, which would connect the fourth level of the Wayne Avenue garage to the third level of the library, is currently under review from the county and is the last part of the library site design to be determined.

Plans for the site include a six-story library along Wayne and Fenton, including a level of office space and an art center, and a 10-story, 146-unit apartment complex on Bonifant Street. Parking for the library would be provided by the Wayne Avenue garage.

At the current stage of the design, the library is expected to cost about $58 million.

That design was determined after 10 community meetings last fall and winter and was approved by the Montgomery County Council and County Executive Isiah Leggett (D). Some residents, however, favored an option that would front the library along Bonifant and the apartment building along Wayne.

From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. May 7, the second design meeting will discuss initial concepts of the site and building. A third meeting will be held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. May 28.

In the final meeting, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. June 18, feedback will be gathered on the plans to be recommended to the Montgomery County Public Libraries and Department of General Services regarding a specific site plan, massing and elevations of the site and the building's Leadership in Energy and Environment Design qualifications.

These community meetings will differ from previous community meetings because it will focus on a more detailed design of the library building itself rather than general concepts, said Gary Stith, deputy director for planning and special projects for the county Department of General Services.

"It's a process and each meeting will build on the meetings before," said Stith, the former director of the Silver Spring Regional Center. "We would encourage people to participate in all the meetings."

After the final design meeting, architects will move forward with designing the building in detail. The project won't be available for construction bids for at least a year, Stith said.

To request Americans with Disabilities Act program accommodations, contact the Silver Spring Library at 240-773-9420 five working days in advance of the meeting.

Ritz Camera closing five stores in county

Ritz Camera Centers of Beltsville, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, plans to close 11 stores in Maryland, including five in Montgomery County, according to a court filing last week.

Ritz, with more than 900 retail stores nationwide and about 40 in Maryland, said it would close stores in the following locations: Lakeforest mall in Gaithersburg; Westfield Wheaton; White Flint Mall in North Bethesda; The Shops at Sumner Place in Bethesda; and downtown Silver Spring.

Going-out-of-business sales are planned, with the stores slated to close by May 31. Nationwide, the chain plans to close 306 locations, including 16 portrait shops.

Family fills in for World War II veteran in presentation

As a wrestling coach at Paint Branch High School, Rick Smith sees youngsters fight for the burgundy and gold. His father, a veteran of the battle at Iwo Jima, fought for the red, white and blue more than 60 years ago.

Last Wednesday was supposed to be a family speaking affair: Charles Smith, an 84-year-old Navy and Air Force veteran, would speak to a Paint Branch Naval JROTC class while his grandson Jordan Smith, a middle school student at Forsey Christian School in Silver Spring, would present his Iwo Jima project. And Rick would be there, too.

Two out of three happened: Jordan spoke, and so did Rick, but Charles was not there. Rick said it's hard for his father to talk about his war experiences.

"He called me up first thing this morning and said, Son, I can't do it," Rick Smith, a Paint Branch teacher, told the audience. "It's difficult for him because he has to think of some old memories that are very tough."

But the Smiths came prepared. They brought Charles' bronze star, old photos and a model of the battle of Iwo Jima. Smith told the students how his father, a former risked to his life as a sailor to help the Marines storm Iwo Jima two days before the battle.

Armed with pride for his father, Rick Smith read Charles' bronze star citation: "… Courageous in the face of enemy rifle, machine gun and mortar fire, Smith swam close in shore to destroy underwater mines and enemy-implanted obstacles which might prevent difficulties for the operations of our combat troops."

For Paint Branch junior and Naval JROTC student Desmond Purse, the speech helped personalized the large-scale conflict: "I knew it was a bloody war," he said.